[accguy]

Hi Umang,

Thanks for taking up this initiative. Honestly I was waiting for someone like you who has been there, done that to help clueless souls like me!!

So here's my profile...

Undergrad: B.Tech from NIT - 62% (First class - highly competitive class, only abt 15% of class had greater than 70%)
GMAT: 620 - - Will be retaking the exam sometime by Dec

Work exp - 4+ years:
- 1.5 yrs in Corporate planning - Planned & managed real estate of over 3 million sq.ft for the company across 6 cities in India.
- 1.5 yr in Business Operations - Setup & managed a program management office (PMO) for the 2nd largest vertical of the company in India. Managed Reported & tracked over 100 metrics across various functions like HR,finance, resource management & operations. Recommended actions directly to the Director who took startegic decisons based on these metrics
- 1 yr in HR / proficiency development program - helped improve profiiciency levels from 2.5 to 3.5 (scale of 1-5, 5 being the highest) of more than 3000 employees across the firm (recognized as one of the top 10 strategic initiatives across the firm)

Extra Curricular:
- Initiated a voluntary program at my company (outside working hours) to mentor & groom new hires in the firm - this was so succesful it has now ceased to be voluntary & become a full time program
- Led & organized a management fest at college (was one of the 6 members of the core committe that managed the fest)
- Coordinated several initiatives in college fests & in the the placement process

Post MBA Goals:
Given my background in planning & operations I would like to major in strategy & minor in operations.

Following are my questions to you:

1) Given my goals & exp what should be my target schools?

2) I have also done a post graduate diploma in business administration (part time) alongwith my job during the 1st year which I didnt mention earlier. Although the course content & its standing isn't that great, it helped me understand the basics of management. Should I mention this degree in my apps? If yes, would it help give me some added credential to my app?

Thanks in advance for your inputs.

[rockyb]

Hi Umang,

Appreciate your initiative. Any specific reason for deferring your admit to HBS?

I need your help with a query regarding school selection.

My profile is as follows:
GMAT - 740
Undergrad - B.E First class from Mumbai Univ. Top 10% in class.
Work ex - 5 years till I join Bschool
- I worked as an analyst in banking technology in Tokyo and the Middle East.
- Currently work as a Project Manager in a startup. Responsibilities include proj. management, pre-sales, team building, client deliveries and evaluation/monetization of new techs.

Post MBA goals: Gain business management experience, build a team and open my own consulting firm focussed on consulting for SMEs to handle their project management, marketing, sales and operations on a piecemeal basis.

I share a tremendous rapport with my current boss (founder of my current company) and am receiving a very good support from him for my MBA plans. He recommends that I work in MC before moving to open my own firm and I am inclined to take his advice.

I have applied to a couple of schools (Rotman and Wharton) and am looking to round off my apps by applying to 2 out of Tuck, Darden and Fuqua.

I want to make sure that my school selection is spot-on to ensure that I have a fair chance at making it to one of these schools. I particularly like the programs at Tuck and Darden, but both are small towns and self-contained. I am wondering if that would be a negative in the long run when it comes to recruitments.

Whats your take on my school list?

[ccmba]

Originally Posted by accguy

Hi Umang,

Thanks for taking up this initiative. Honestly I was waiting for someone like you who has been there, done that to help clueless souls like me!!

So here's my profile...

Undergrad: B.Tech from NIT - 62% (First class - highly competitive class, only abt 15% of class had greater than 70%)
GMAT: 620 - - Will be retaking the exam sometime by Dec

Work exp - 4+ years:
- 1.5 yrs in Corporate planning - Planned & managed real estate of over 3 million sq.ft for the company across 6 cities in India.
- 1.5 yr in Business Operations - Setup & managed a program management office (PMO) for the 2nd largest vertical of the company in India. Managed Reported & tracked over 100 metrics across various functions like HR,finance, resource management & operations. Recommended actions directly to the Director who took startegic decisons based on these metrics
- 1 yr in HR / proficiency development program - helped improve profiiciency levels from 2.5 to 3.5 (scale of 1-5, 5 being the highest) of more than 3000 employees across the firm (recognized as one of the top 10 strategic initiatives across the firm)

Extra Curricular:
- Initiated a voluntary program at my company (outside working hours) to mentor & groom new hires in the firm - this was so succesful it has now ceased to be voluntary & become a full time program
- Led & organized a management fest at college (was one of the 6 members of the core committe that managed the fest)
- Coordinated several initiatives in college fests & in the the placement process

Post MBA Goals:
Given my background in planning & operations I would like to major in strategy & minor in operations.

Following are my questions to you:

1) Given my goals & exp what should be my target schools?

2) I have also done a post graduate diploma in business administration (part time) alongwith my job during the 1st year which I didnt mention earlier. Although the course content & its standing isn't that great, it helped me understand the basics of management. Should I mention this degree in my apps? If yes, would it help give me some added credential to my app?

Thanks in advance for your inputs.

Hi accguy,

You're target schools really depend on a number of factors. If you're targeting the top schools, it would be useful if you could raise your GMAT score to 700 (though this is not a hard and fast rule - I know quite a few people who got into HBS with scores in the low to mid 600's). Given your desire to major in strategy and operations, you could tentatively start looking at schools like MIT, Michigan, Carnegie, Purdue.

Definitely mention your part time diploma - it adds another dimension to your application. Since you're saying the content wasn't that great, don't put too much emphasis on this but do mention that you did it to gain a better understanding of business and management. This will show to admission officers that you are committed, and are willing to go that extra mile to get exposure.

[lalitkc]

Hi Umang,

Really appreciate your gesture and efforts to help mba aspirants. Need your advise wrt applying to b-schools in US. First a brief background :

1) Bachelor of engineering in IT - 57 %
1) GMAT : 650
2) Work Exp: 6 yrs

a) 12 months : self employed / Linux administration / networking support
to small businesses

b) 18 months :
Worked with a quasi - government organisation which implements systems for the Income tax department and other government projects . Profile was design & analysis of test cases, troubleshoot production problems, leading the helpdesk team

c) 3 & 1/2 yrs : Switched career from IT to commercial shipping - worked as a demurrage analyst negotiating on claims with all the Oil majors of the world ( Shell, Chevron, Exxonmobil, BP, Total, Petrobras etc.....) -lead & managed the demurrage portfolio for the largest fleet & with the best performance in the business. contributed to revenue in millions of USD. Also travelled to the US office

With avg acads & gmat but a diverse work exp, do i stand a chance in say US b-schools ranked from 10 to 30.

Please guide.

Lalit

[MS0612]

Hi Umang,

Congratulations on the HBS admit.

Can you let me know your views on R1 vs R2 for Harvard? I have missed the R1 and am a bit concerned after hearing from a lot of people that R2 has lesser chances vs R1.

Thanks,
MS

[kaushik819]

Hi,
Can anyone evaluate my resume and suggest me few good schools which i can have as a target and the areas i have to improve.

Profile:
10th-80.3%
12th-85.6%
B.E-80%
Masters in EE(did it in University of Southern Califonia)-GPA-3.36
GMAT-yet to giv(aiming for 700+)

Extra curricular activities-
Department secretary in undergrad for an year
Executive member in Lok satta party(a regional political party)O

Work exp-
Undertaking family construction bussiness(construction of National Highways).I will have 2 yrs exp by 2011 fall.

I have few schools on my mind ISB,USC,UCLA,Nanyang
please suggest me few schools in which i can make a cut.

[nikhilfotedar]

Hey Umang

Congrats on the HBS admit, man! you have a killer profile!!!

Could you offer me some assistance by reviewing my profile?

Below are my stats

10th: 89%
12th: 87%
Engg(Mumbai university): 63%
GMAT:690(q47,v3 5.5

Have been working with HSBC for the past 2.5 years as a Software Engineer/Designer for their E-commerce arm and am the owner of a service currently used by 64,000 organisations as well as being the designer/owner of the billing architecture developed by HSBC to bill the 300,000 organisations using its services as well as am involved in certain secret yet soon to be declared projects but would be under a confidentiality agreement..so cant speak about that in the apps.

Extra curriculars are excellent during school :quizzing,debating, head boy,district level tennis(although have no certis to prove it..just some trophies)

College: have won a few inter collegiate management contests but not much to hark about

Office: have been involved in various Social service activities as well as organising events..but again no certis and no proof.


I have applied to ISB till now..currently writing the apps for IE,Nanyang,NUS

From US side thinking of targetting Mccombs,Thunderbird and prob Stern.

Safety schools are Syracuse and AIM Manila

What do you think? whether I should lower my sights and try to aim lower than the schools I am applying to?

Thanks in advance!!

[ccmba]

Hi RockyB,

Sorry it took me a couple of days to get back to you. With your profile, I think you should be exactly what the schools you have applied to are looking for. In terms of recruitment, it really depends on the kind of jobs one is looking for. Business schools in cities tend to have greater access to recruiting in banking and finance firms, for example UChicago and NYU-Stern. This being said, it's more important to go to a better school, even if its not in an urban setting. There will be plenty of opportunities at schools such as Darden, Fuqua, and Tuck to land yourself a really good job. I think your selection of schools is pretty astute and I'm glad to see you're not just going by rankings and applying to the top 4 schools.

[ccmba]

Hi Lalit,

The strongest point you should be looking to bring out in your applications is your work experience. Remember, admission officers read only what you tell them, and since you graduated from college a while ago, focus primarily on building a story around your work ex and your future goals. If your shipping job is the most recent, which I think it is, I would talk about this experience and highlight why it wasn't a arbitrary career switch, but a planned progression that now involves you doing an MBA.

I definitely think you could be looking at school 10-30; a lot of their average GMAT scores are around the 650-670 mark and your strong work experience should work in your favor.

[ccmba]

Originally Posted by MS0612

Hi Umang,

Congratulations on the HBS admit.

Can you let me know your views on R1 vs R2 for Harvard? I have missed the R1 and am a bit concerned after hearing from a lot of people that R2 has lesser chances vs R1.

Thanks,
MS

Hi MS,

Most business schools will say that there is no difference between round 1 and 2 and that applicants should apply when ready. However, I understand your concern about missing round 1. The way I see it, and this is my personal opinion, is that round 1 allows students to be considered merely on the basis of their own application with no real class to compare to, whereas in rounds 2 and 3, admissions officers already have some sort of accepted pool and an idea of what they want the class to look like. Yet, I really don't think a strong applicant will get turned down if he applies in round 2. As a rule, admission officers have to keep a large percentage of the incoming class reserved for round 2. As long as you stick away from round 3, which may be cutting it a bit too fine, I think you should definitely apply in round 2.